Yieldable pipe wrench



July 5, 1938. F, SCOTT ET AL 2,122,760

YIELDABLE PIPE WRENCH Filed July 16, 1936 Floyd L. 5:022 Ralph R Sherman O INVENTORS J z ig I v BY M5 ATTORNE Y Patented 1938 UNITED STATES PATENT o-F'Flcs Floyd L. 2:22: Houston,

'l'ex., asaignora to Hughes Tool Company, Honston. Tex, a corporation of Texas Appllcation July 16, 1938, Serial No. 80.840

4 Claims. 81-53) Our invention relates to pipe wrenches and 2i through which a post 22 projects.

particularly wrenches for screwing pipe joints such as are employed on drill stems or casing employed in deep well'drilling by the rotary method. It'is an object of the invention to provide a pipe wrench the handle of which will yield under a' predetermined pressure so as to indicate that the desired amount of torque has been reached in the joint screwing operation.

threads in screwing up will'injure and the shoulders of the joint:

any desired type of pipe wrench.

In the drawing herewith Fig. l is a top plan view of a wrench employing the invention, the

attachment being in longitudinal section.

Fig.2 is a transverse section taken on the plane 2-2 of Fig. l.

Fig. 3 is a similar transverse section on the plane 3-! of Fig. 1.

to latch said jaws together.

-The handle 5 has an eye l at its outer end through which a pin III is received. Said outer end of the handle fits within a bifurcated recess ii in an arm l2. 'I'he pin ll extends across said recess and forms a pivotal connection of the hamdle i with the arm l2.

Said arm has its outerend formedwith an open- I it may be use. Baldarm extends forwardly along the wrench handle and is spaced somewhat therefrom. its'forward end being connected to said handle by means of a yoke suchas is shown in Fig. 2.

Bald yoke comprises a frame II having a cen- 4 tral recess isto receive the wrench handle I.

' The open side of this recess is closed about the wrench handle by a plate l1 secured to the yoke At each side of the recess is a chamber in which is housed a spring l8. A set screw It extends through the ,closed wall of the chamber and bears against a block upon which the spring is is seated.

ing it and a clevis ll by means of w anchored against movement when by set screws-or other means.

The other end of the chamber is closed by It is particularly adapted for use on tool joints where the threads must be made up tightly to assure a seal, but where excessive pressure on the the threads -We desire to provide an indicator which will indicatewhen the joint is sufilciently tight by moving a recorderand sounding analarm note.

The device is intended as, an attachment to.

has a radial flange I! thereon. within the chamber, which acts as a seat for the spring it which 'holds the post resiliently outwardly. The flange also limits the outward movement of the post 6 under pressure of the spring.

spaced therefrom as will beam in the drawing. l This band also acts to limit the movement of the 15 arm. relative to the handle.

The extreme forward end of arm II has" short finger It thereon which normally engages over the projecting end of a' strip ofspring steel 21 which acts as an alarm. when vibrated by the arm it giyes ed a note which informs the opera tor that the armh'as moved relative to the wrench handle. 'Ihe steel strip is anchored to the handle by attachment to a sleeve is fixed to the handle by a set screw 29. 25

A counter or recorder may also be mounted on. the handle to indicate the number of joints screwed up. A counter of old construction is gcr 3| sufiiciently to move a recording wheel in I the counter and make a record thereof. Such endpo nt recorderscanbepurchasedinthemarketandfli form no novel portion of our invention.

In the use of this device. it may perform varioils-duties. Considering the process of screwing up tool joints. the lower section of pipe extending into the well will be held stationary in the rotary and the upper stand of pipe with a tool joint pin at the lower end will be raised over the stationary section of the joint and the pin member at the lower end of the new stand will be stabbed into the box of the section in the well. The cat line is then ordinarily looped about the new section to rotate it and screw thepin into the box. '-When thus screwed up the joint. is'not tight enomh. Thewrench will then be engaged about the upper section of the joint and a jerk line will be semi-es to'the' eye it of the wrench arm and a further pull will be exerted thereon in thedirection of the arrow. A predetermined amount of torque will be exerted before the'sprlnss "will be compressed suiiiciently toiforce thearmil toward the I to gall the threads or the shoulders of the joint. The counter will show how many joints have been thus tightened and serves as a check by the superintendent as to whether or not all the joints have been thus carefully tightened by means of the wrench or whether such tightening has been omitted on some -of them.

While we have illustrated the invention as applied to one operation it is obvious that it may be used for other purposes andthe wrench handle may be held'stationary while the pipe is rotated. What we claim as new is: 1. A pipewrench includin'ga handle, pipe engaging members thereon, an arm pivotally attached tothe outer end of said handle at one of its ends and extending along said handle approximately parallel therewith and spaced therefrom, said arm also projecting slightly beyond the outer end of said handle and adapted for attachment toapull line, means to resiliently oppose the movement of the inner end of said arm toward said handleand means. to indicate when a pre-, determined pull is exerted upon the outer end of said arm.

2. A pipe wrench including a handle, pipe engaging members thereon, an arm pivotally attached tothe outer end of said handle at one of its ends and extending along said handle approximately parallel therewith and spaced therefrom, said arm also projecting slightly beyond the outer end of said handle and adapted for attachment to a pull line, means to resiliently oppose the movementof the inner end of said arm toward said handle and an alarm device, actuated by the movement of said arm toward said handle a predetermined amount. g

3. A pipe wrench, a handle, pipe engaging means on the innerflend thereof, an arm parallel therewith, means to secure said arm between its ends pivotally to the outer end of said handle, said arm projecting inwardly adjacent said handle, yieldable means to hold the inner end 01 said arm spaced from said handle, said yieldable means being adapted to permit relative movement of said arm in response to a predetermined pull exerted upon'the outer end of said arm.

4. A- pipe wrench, a handle, pipe engaging means on the inner end thereof, an arm parallel therewith, means to secure said arm between its ends pivotally to the outer end of said handle, said arm projecting inwardly adjacent said handle, yieldable means to hold the inner end of said'arm spaced from said handle, said yieldable means being adapted to permit relative movement of saidarm in response to a predetermined pull exerted upon the outer end of said arm and an indicator actuated by the relative movement of said arm toward said handle.

FLOYD L. .sc'o'rr. RALPH P. SHERMAN. 

